William



(No'ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. W. A. FE RRBE'. OOIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

No. 567,128. Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

IMI 1m] 1m! WITNESSES: INVENTOI? t a. 1 8.7 I I W A TTURNEY m: humus warns on. rnoroumoq WASNINGTON. u c

2 v u e e h S S M e h S 2 H B R R E h A W QNo Model.)

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

No. 567,128. Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

WI TNESSES:

,4 TTURNEY UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

\VILLIAM APPLETON FERREE, OF BROOKLYN, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO SAMUEL P. FERREE, OF SAME PLACE.

COIN-CONTROLLED VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 567,128, dated September 8, 1896.

Application filed March 9, 1895. Renewed August 4, 1896. Serial No. 601,675. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM APPLETON FERREE, of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Controlled Vending- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of vending-machines which is intended for the sale of articles of such a character that they are not readily delivered one at a time from a receptacle containing a number of the articles, and which, also, being more bulky than most articles which have been heretofore vended from such machines,would require reservoirs of considerable size to contain any considerable number.

My invention is to vend such articles as newspapers, and to place the vending-machines in positions in public conveyances and elsewhere where the space which can be 0ccupied is limited, and the machine must be small and compact. To accomplish this, I form a series of receptacles of sulficient size to hold 2 5 one article each, and for each receptacle I provide separate coin-controlled locking mechanism, so that each receptacle is emptied at a single operation of the locking mechanism, and that locking mechanism will not be re- 0 quired to act again till the vending-compartment has been refilled.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a series of my improved vending-machines, showing the same applied in a railway-car.

5 Fig. 2 is a view of two of the compartments, each with its lock, the first being closed, the second opened; and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the locking mechanism.

Similar letters of reference designate simi- 4o lar parts in all the figures. I

A is the body or framework of the case, which is made of sheet metal or other suitable material, and has, preferably, a semicylindrical form. a This is attached to the frame- 5 work of the car above the windows and just below the curved advertising racks commonly used, where it is both convenient for access, occupies space not otherwise valuable, and by the attractiveness of its appearance and shape adds to the appearance of the car. I prefer to make the cases of polished brass or nickel-plated metal, thus securing the effect of a bright molding above the windows of the cars. From the necessities of this location and the character of the merchandise it is necessary to economize space by making the cases and locks of as small a diameter as possible, and this restriction of the interior of the locks would tend in ordinary cases where the machines are placed upon stationary supports to cause difficulty in operating the locks, because of the tendency of coins to stick or catchin passing through the guideways and mechanism of locks,'which are so restricted in the possible vertical fall of the coins. In Fig. 3 it will be noticed that after the coin has tipped the lever f there will be a tendency for it to retain the lever raised by the coin resting with its edge upon the bottom of the case, while its side lies upon the end of the lever; but this and similar tendencies of the coins to sticks or clog will be overcome by the movement and jarring of the car in which the cases are borne, which will cause the coins to follow their proper course until they land in the bottom of the case. Thus byaffixingthe cases to theinterior of street-railway cars and similar conveyances I am enabled to utilize the movements thereof to facilitate the operation of the locks, whereby I save space which would otherwise be necessary for the accumulation of momentum by the coin and for the free clearance of the parts of the looks.

The frame A is attached to the Woodwork 8 by screws a a, and may be supported by suitable brackets, at proper intervals. To the upper edge of this frame A, I hang lids O C O, which, when closed, form with the frame a tube-like compartment. These lids o 0 are provided with apertures D D, which serve the purpose of disclosing whether the compartment is full or empty. These apertures may be glazed, if desired, and a suitable sign, as Full or lmpty, may be ar- 5 ranged to automatically display itself behind the opening at the proper. time.

Each lid 0 is kept closed by a coin-controlled lock E, wherein a coin passing down the guideway 6 trips a catch-lever f and throws the end of it which projects through the lock-case 2' out of a hook g on the lid 0,

work. Different articles may be placed in particular receptacle and its lock have then performed their function until a new article is placed in the case and the lid again closed and fastened. I thus secure a continuous series of receptacles or cases, each of which r is independent of all the others in its operation, but all supported in the same framethe different compartments, whereby a large variety of articles may be displayed for sale in a very small space.

These machines being placed in public conveyances, such as railway and streetcars, can be inspected and replenished at very frequent intervals as the cars reach the depots or termini of the roads, and thus, though a; large numberof separate compartments are in use, they can be cared for at slight cost, as

compared with the expense of visiting and rej plenishing any considerable number of machines placed :in stationary positions at Clif; ferent points.

It would be impracticableto place a machine j containing a bulky reservoir of articles in the position intended for my cases. advantage of the reservoir system is that the entire contents of the reservoir must be sold or removed before a new article can be. reached. In the case of newspapers this is; very objectionable. In cities particularly, the successive editions of the newspapers. must be offered forsale as soon as issued, and this can readily be done with my system by filling the empty cases at regular points on the roads with the fresh editions of the pa per-s. Thus there can be offered for sale, at one and the same time, a large number of papers of various issues and editions and at.

A great dis-' various prices, as the locks of thediiferent cases can be set to operate upon the deposit of a different coin or coins in each. i

It is obvious that the details of the form and construction of the cases and locks can be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention. I prefer the cylindrical form of case and the division into compartments and locks and coin-receptacles, as shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patu ent of the United States, is-

1. The combination of a semitubular back frame, a plurality of tubular lock-cases the side Walls of which form a series of partitions which divide said back frame into a plurality of compartments, a plurality of lids, one for each compartment,.and coin-controlled mech .anism within each lock-case for looking a lid,

adapted to be released by a coin or coins, to permit the movement of a lid, whereby access is permitted to any of the compartments independent of the others.

.2. The combination of asemitubular back frame, a plurality of lock-cases of restricted diameter in proportion to the coins used, the

side walls of which cases form a series of partitions which divide said back frame into a plurality of compartments, a plurality of sem-itubular lids one for each compartment, and coin-controlled mechanism within each lock-case for looking a lid adapted to be re leased bya coin or coins to permit the move- :ment of a lid for access to any one of the compartments independent of the others, the plurality of cases being adapted for applica tion to the interior of a car or other vehicle whereby the motion of the vehicle is utilized to overcome the tendency-of the coins to stick or clog in the restricted lock-cases.

WM. APPLETON FERREE. Witnesses HERBERT J. IIINDns, WM. B. N-EILLEY. 

